Force-measuring machine.



Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

INVENTOR WITNESSES YHC NORRIS PETERS C0,, warm-1040.. wnsnuvcmu, u. c

E. G. THOMAS.

FORGE MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 190'!- Patented Dee 15, 1914.

2 SHEETSSBEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR n4: NONRI) HLIKRS COWPNOTOVLITNOH WASHINGI'ON4 0 C rnvrrnn sra'rns, na rn vr orrron v EDWARD G. THOMAS, oif j lvnvv vonx, iv." Y.

1 'roncn-mnasnmne Mgr-CHIN To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I,EnwAnD G. THOMAS, of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented and produced certain new and useful Improvements in Force-Measuring -hlachines, of which the following is a specification. n 4,1

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of instruments for measuring force, and more especially to those;;instruments' serving to indicate 'or -p rintthe: weight of an object or a mass of material, lvIy'objec-t-is to provide a device will be sensitive and accurate, andin which; power necessary for its operationis entirely derived from a source outside theforce r to, be measured. n g

The most obvious use of this .inventionis its application to the purposes ofweighing; and I have illustrated"and njill describeit in connection with a, scale meansof the dra\vings, which form; apart of and ac com pany this specification, and. i the Y following. description of its construction and opera;- tion. 7 I 4,

In these drawings: ,Fig ure I is a sideeleration of an embodiment of my invention, showing recording and printing mechanism. Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the recording device, the printing mechanism, and those parts beyond the recording mechanism having been removed to simplify the illustration.

In these drawings, 1 is a scale beam-supe ported through knife edges 2, on a post 3. Suspended from one end by knife edge 1, is a scale pan 5, containing the object to be weighed 6. From knife edge 7, at the opposite end of scale beam 1, is suspended by means of link 8, a spring 9. Pivotally mounted upon post 10, is a shaft 11, having secured to it a pulley 12, and cam 13. Posltioned beneath cam 13, is a lever 14, which is pivotally secured to a yoke15, secured to a rod 16, which is slidably mounted in a boss 17, projecting from the base of the machine. The other end of lever 14 is pivotally secured to a link 18, which ispivot ally mounted on post 19, secured to the base of the machine. Lever 14 has upon it a projection 20, serving to engage the Working surface of cam 13. The hook 21 connects the lower end of spring 9 to yoke 15, and transmits to the lower end of the spring 9 any vertical motion of yoke 15. A driving shaft 22, by means of pulley 23 and belt 58,

"'Specification or Letters'Pate'nt drivespnlley lz' shaft}11 and cam ,13. in thje,direction,.indicated ,by the arrow,'-this connection being of ,a yieldable, character so eld-Pe m t m on o ha t. il ...-.an i eh parts. tq be sm yistoppedby m a iiarla shfl .aen n s .2 ,t u tozcam lla Latch 24 is pivoted uponpost 3,

isprovided with a jha'ndle 53, andits moipnri s lim d yz t p 6 and 27- -;-A' ae .i.,= J ke-$5 A s end 29 cured h base he.- m i h eerpp in vq k n P anne -da d vis o ra e by a 2 ThlS record ng-device consists ofa shaft 30,:

rotatably..mopnted inbearings 31, secured to standardI QSl {Securedi to shaft 30 is a pinioaiaaggvfvihih; meshes winner of ates.

$3 3, provided with leather face 34, 1s alsosecured to shaft 30; whilea second a face- 3 issecured so asto IQtittQj'Wltll Sllflft 30, but.

be; free to slide along thelshafla spring 37, andcollar fil, constan'tly press flange 3 5 tovvard flange'33f Between these flanges is mounted a registering element 60, consisting .of a i ratchet wheel f3 8, and indicating: vvhel'39 secured together, and provided with friction faces, 40 and l l. This,

indicating element, though supported by shaft 30, is..not secured thereto, but will turn with 'itu'nder the influence of the frictional pressure of flanges 33 and 35, unless in some way "restrained.; Stops Q and43 respectively limit upward and, downward motion of the end. of scale beam 1. Secured to scale beaml is a dog 44, which is so located as to engage the'teeth of ratchet '38 when the scale-beam is in its lowest position, but is liftedout of engagement with these teeth when the scale beam is in its highest .position. The edge of indicating Wheel 39 is graduated forindicatin g the amount of the lo'ad'uponth scale pan 5, and an index finger 15', secured to the frame of the machine, serves to {point out the' figure to be read. A second cam 46 is secured to shaft 11 and turns with it, and engages lever 47, pivoted to standard 29. At the opposite end of lever 47 is located a supply roll 48, an impression roll 49, and take-up roll 50. Se cured to the take-up roll 50 is a ratchet 51, and positioned to engage this ratchet is a pawl 52, secured to standard 29. A strip of paper runs from the supply roll 48, around the impression roll 49, to take-up roll 50.

The operation of the device is as follows:

7 '1' Patented Dec. 15, 1914. Application filedjiscptember 17,1901, seriali N0.:393,409. i

.- v 28': sfsecured togand moves with The object to be weighed li aving been placed in scale pan 5, handle .53 pulledagainst stop 27, thereby releasing block 25 from latch 24, and permitting the rotation-of the shaft and parts secured theretol the shaft rotates, lever 14; willbe forced,,.down-;

ward by the action'ofcajm 13, thereby forcing downward yoke -15-: with"' its attached the spring, it will remain'a'gainst its upper stop 42; but as'the' s'pringis' giajdiially extended, its rome wiu-eventuall 'becloine great enough to"ovet lialance the wight of the loadfanddt "will""'-then. fdrce the scale. beam downward againstflowerstop 4 3. Dog 44, moving downward wjithfseale' beam 1, will engage teeth'fof' ratchet ,38iandjprea vent'th'e further rotatioifiof thefindicatiiig wheel, which will, therefore, indicate bjffthe figures opp0site'pointer45, the weight 'of the object to befweighed." The downward motion of-lever H and yoke '15,"'and the: extension 013 spring '9, iwill; continue to f the maximum amountfprovidedjby the shap'e'of cam l3. "Since the -downvrard"motion 'of" rack 28 will continue with'that of yoke15, the rotation of pinion 32 andfflanges' 33 35 will also: continuefafter' theunotioii o'f tlie indicating wheel is arrested, and the springpressed flanges 33' and 35 will "slip *on faces 403m 41. The continuance of 'the' motion of the shaft 11, -beyond f'thep'oint of great est depression of lever l4, permit the lever to rise, moving"rack 28 upward, turning pinion 3 2 in the revers e directiom and gradually relievingscale'beain1"of the force: due to the extension'ofthe s'prin'gl" When this force is relieved, sothat it is again over-balanced by the weight of the object in the scale pan, Jscalebeaml will rise, freeing the indicating wheel, which will then turn backward with therotating pinion and shaft to its zero position, which is determined .by a stop 54: upon the indicating wheel, engaging a stop55 upon standard 29. The rotation of shaft 11 will cease when block 25 again engages latch 24:, and no further movement of the device will occur until it is again released by moving handle 53.

Asthus described, the device serves only as an indicating instrument; but is made a recording instrument bythe operation of the printing device, as follows: At the time of greatest depression of lever 14, cam 46, which has been gradually depressing lever 47, reaches its point of greatest depression.

i rnpressed upon the paper surface. releasesdever 47 from its lowest position Its opposite end carrying the paper-feeding rolls, is .at this ,time..forced firmly into contact withi'ridicatin'gwheel 39, and a record of the figures indicating the weight will be Cam 46 before can 13 permits any return of lever 14, and the 'paper+feeding rolls are gradually returned to their starting position. During thistravel,'ratchet 51 is engaged by pand -52 afiid turns "-one moth; thus rolling up someof the"paperf strip upon take-up roll-50, and bringing a fresh surface of the s'trip -at ,the: printing -point of impression roll 49,'=ready for the'next operation of the machine. In order-that the impression may be in ink' upon-the' paper, an ink roller 58, ofkfelt -or other absorbent material, is sup- Ported'bya link 59 pivotally attached to standard: 29 fbya'lug =60. This ink roller 53 ,re'sts fiiponthe edge of" indicating wheel 39am will==ink the projecting numbers on indicating-'wheeh39as they pass under the roller fluring the rotation of the indicating wheelb Whereit-is not dGSlIOdftO indicate the weight of each object weighed, but is desired to integrate the weights of successive objects, a pawl56, shown in dotted lines andpivo'tally secured to standard129, is provided which will engage the'teeth of ratchet wheelffl ishown irr-dotted and secured to the indicati wheel,and prevent it from having any bac 'w ardmotion. The record of .the weight of oneobject will then be added toth'erecord madeby'the weighing of the previous object, and the difference between one readlrig and another will indicate the total'weight of theobjects weighed between these readings.

'Thei'scale dllustrated is of the simplest possible form, but my invention is applica ble to scales of every form and description, whether of simple 'balanced type or of the platform or otherfinore complicated types, and is to be a plied to scales having scale pans or plat orms, or to scales having buckets or other containing devices. Further, the particular way in which power is applied for the extension of the spring is not of importance; it can be applied as shown, from a driving shaft, or the operation of the devicecan be accomplished by manual force applied to yoke 15, or to lever M, or to shaft-11. The particular form of any of the parts may be modified or mechanical equivalents may be substituted, without modifying the character of my invention.

. It is proposed that the ultimate extension of the spring, due to the travel permitted or caused, will impart a greater force to scale beam 1 than the upward force which will be caused by an object having the maximum weight for which thescale is designed. It will be desirable in the construction of the machine-to put 100 graduations on the indicating wheel 39, and 100 teeth .in ratchet 38, in order that in transmitting the indications of this wheel to succeeding counting wheels, the decimal systelnmay be used.

-Stated more briefly than. above, theoperation of my device is the gradual application infopposition to the force to be measured, of aforce increasing to aidetermined maximum in eachoperation ot the device; the simultaneous motion of a device recording-the'amount of the applied-force, and the arresting of the motion of this recording device at-theinstant' of the balancing of the applied force and the force to be measured.

--Having thus fullydescribed myi nven tion, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States-is as follows: 1:=.*In a force-measuring. device, the combination of 'ameans driven from a source of power extraneous to the machine, foriapplying a gradually increasing force in opposition to the force to be measured, said applied force exceeding at its maximum the force to be measured, anindicating element, mechanism giving to" said element a movementcoordinate-with the increase of said opposing force'and means for arrestin ithe motion' of the indic'ating element at idle moment 10f balance: between the force to =be'measured and Lthe-said opposing force, substantially as described. 23111 a force-measuring machine, the combination of ameans for applying a gradually: increasing force in opposition to the force to be measured, said-a plied force ex ceeding at its maximum the orce to be measured, an indicating mechanism yieldingly driven by said means and a device for arresting the motion of said indicating mechanism at the moment of balance between the opposing forces, substantially as described. 3. In a force-measuring machine, the combination of a spring, a member for transmitting to one end of said spring the force to be measured, means for moving the other end of said springto impartwforce'to Ethe spring in opposition to the force to be measured, an indicating element, mechanism adapted to impart to said indicating element a movement coordinate with that of said means, and means for stopping the motion of said indicating element by the movement of said transmitting member, substantially as described.

4. In a force-measuring apparatus, the combination of a spring, a member transmitting to one end of the spring the force to be measured, means for moving the opposite end of said spring inopposition to the force to be measured, a frictionally-driven indicating element and means, operatively connected withsaid transmitting member, for ar resting its motiona't the instant of-balance between the opposing forces, substantially as described. 1 v 5L' In alone-measuring apparatus,"-'the combination of rmeans for-applying and varying a force opposition to the force to' be measured between zero and a predeter-- mined:- maximum, a registering element, eluding a-driving member'and' an indicating member, mechanism adapted :to impartto said registering element a motion coordinate with that of': said'means,and a device' -for stopping the motion of thG il1diC3tlDgf mem ber during the'period of said'increase oi said opposing force i and at the 'point of balance of thisiforce and the force to be measured,

substantiallyas describedv m i 6.- In a'force'measuring machine, the combination of a spring, a member transmitting to one end of said sprin -r-the-'--force to be measured; means attached to i the opposite end of said spring for; imparting force to the spring in opposition to'zthe 'forceto :be measured, arack attached to saidmeans, aregistering apparatus driven'thereby and including a yieldingly driven:.-indicating vmember and means for stopping the motion ofsaid indicating-element at the ointpf: balance of said opposing force's,-: .su stantially -asv-:derscribed;- .z1-;e '1- 1 1: '7. 'dIna forcemeasuring'machine, the-com-:

bination of a spring, a member transmitting to .one 1 end :iof ,said spring the forcel to be measured, a cam operated means attached-"to the opposite end ofsaid' springiforiiimparting forcertorthezispring in opposition to the force to be measured, a registering element including an indicating-member,--mechanism' adapted'to impart to said registering element .a movement coordinate with the 1v aria-- tion of said opposing force, andmeans for arresting the motion of the indicating member atthe nlOment of balance between the force to :be measured and the said opposin force, substantially as described.

8. In a force measuring machine, the combination of a spring,'a-member transmitting to one end of said spring the'force to be measured, means attached .to .the opposite end of said-spring for imparting force to the spring in opposition to thefor'ceio be measured, a:yieldingly driven cam for operating said means, restraining means for governing the rotation of said cam, and registering means, substantially as described.

9. In a force measuring machine, the combination of a spring, a member transmitting to one end of said spring the force to be measured, means attached to the opposite end of said spring for imparting force to the spring in opposition to the force to be measured, a registering element including an indicating wheel and a ratchet wheel secured together and yieldably connected to the registerin'g element, mechanism adapted to impart .to said registering element a movement coordinate .With the variation in the force of the spring, and a latch carried by the said transmitting member for engaging the teeth of the ratchet atthe moment ofbalance of the opposing iorces,=rsubstantially as de- SCXibtLf; 1 1

:1Q.-2;Inaaa:rec0rding scale, the combination of ascale beam, a spring attached thereto, means for impartingqforce'to the spring in Opposition to the weight of the scale-load, a registering device including, a yieldably driven indicatingrmember, means adapted toimpart; to.-;the said registering device a movementtcoordinate with the variation in the .fOrOQmf-the spring, and means forstopping the motion of said indicating-member atthe pointj'iof balance between the-scale loadeand the zforce iof the spring, substantially as described. v 1 11. In a-Iorce measuring machine, means adapted'toi' app'ly, in opposition to the force to bepmeasured,a force, varying from zero to axpredetermined maximum and back to zero, an indicating device, mechanism adapted to {impart to said. device a movement coordinate withthe variation in said applied force, mechanism for stopping the movement-ofvsaid indicating device at-the moment of balance between the opposingifor'ces and a locking' member for releasing or restrainingzthe motion of said means.

12. .Inqaj force-:measuring machine the combinationkof-wmeansdriven from a source of power extraneous to the machine, for applying a-gradua-lly increasingforce in opposi-tiontoithe force to be measured, an indicatingaelement, mechanism adapted to impart to 'said indicating element 'a movement coordinate with the variation of said opposing force, mechanism for arresting the motion of said indicating element at the moment of balance between the opposing forces, and printing means for recording the reading of said indicating element 13. In a force measuring machine the combination of a scale beam, means for applying to the beam the force to be measured, a spring connected at one end of the beam, mechanism for moving the other end of the spring to impart force thereto in opposition to the force to be measured,-a registering device, mechanism adapted to impart to said registering device a movement coordinate with the variation in force of said spring, and means for stopping the motion of said registering device at the moment of balance between the opposing forces.

14. In a force-1neasuri11g machine the combination of a scale beam, means for applying to the beam the force to be measured, a spring connected at one end of the beam, a revolving cam operatively connected to the other end of the spring, a registering device, mechanism adapted to impart to said device a movement coordinate with that of said spring, means for stopping the -move ment of said registering device at the'flmo-. ment of balance between the force to 'be measured and the force of said spring,.and mechanism for stopping the rotation of said cam. 1 1- r y- 15. In a force-measuring';Z-maehine, =the combination Zof means "for applying "a force in opposition to the force to-be. measured, aregistering element, including-aidriving member and an indicating'rmember yield ingly driven i'therefrom, mechanismzadapted to impart to said registering element motioncoordinate with that of said means, ;-;mecha. nism for arresting the motion of said indicating member at the moment of rbalancelbetweensaid opposingliorces and a devioeto', prevent any motion-of the indicatimg g-m em her in the reverse direction. :;;i-.r-Ef'=* 16. The combination, in a force-measuring machine, of aspring,a member transmitting to one end of the spring=the force to be measured, means formoving the other end of the spring in opposition come fence to be measured, an indicating element, mech j, anism adapted to impart togsaid-indieating; element motion coordinatelwith that of said means, and a device operatively-connected; with said transmitting membcnrforaarrest ing the motion of said indicating element at the moment of balance between. the. force 'to' be measured and the force of :the spring.i -.i.s 17. In a force-measuring machineuiil hei combination of a-spring, a memberrtransmitting to one end ofsaid springthexforce' to be measured, means for moving the'other end of said spring -in oppositionto the force to be measured, an indicating element' mechanism adapted to impart tosaid indicating element motion coordinate with that of-said means, a device operatively connected with said transmitting member forarresting the motion of said indicating element at the moment of balance between thexforce to.:.be measured and the force of the spring, acres cording surface, and means for impressing, the record of the indicating element upon' said recording surface. i I.-

18. In a force-measuring machine the combination of a spring, a member transmitting to one end of the spring the force to. be measured, means for moving the other end of the spring betwwn predetermined limiting positions, an indicating element, mechanism adapted to impart to said indieating element a movement coordinate with that of said means, and a device operatively connected with said transmitting member for arresting the motion of said indicating element at the moment of balance between the force to be measured and the force of the spring.

19. In a force-measuring machine the combination of means for applying a gradually varying force in opposition to the force to be measured, a member transmitting said applied force, an indicating element, mechanism adapted to impart to said indicating element motion coordinate with the variation of said applied force, and a device operatively connected with said transmitting member for arresting the motion of said indicating element at the time of balance between the opposing forces.

20. In a force-measuring machine the combination of means' for applying a gradually varying force in opposition to the force to be measured, a member transmitting said applied force, an indicating element, mechanismadapted to impart to said indicating element motion coordinate with the variation of said opposing force, a device operatively connected with said transmitting member for arresting the motion of said indicating element at the time of balance between the opposing forces, and

Coplez of this patent may be obtained for printing means, operatively connected with said means for applying the opposing force, for recording the reading of said indicating element. 7

21. In a force-measuring machine the combination of a scale beam, means for applying to the scale beam the force to be measured, means for applying to the scale beam a varying force in opposition to the force to -be measured, a registering device for indicating the amount of the force to be measured, mechanism adapted to-impart to said registering device motion coordinate with the variation of said opposing force and means operatively secured to the scale beam for stopping the motion of said registering device by the movement of the beam. In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses EDWARD G. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

WM. A. EVANS, E. W. ULMAN.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 0! latcnta, Washington, D. C." 

